Fire extinguisher



p 1933- A. c. LUSHER I 1,928,295

FIRE EXTINGUISHER Filed NOV. 19, 1932 INVENTOR Albert C:'.Lusher.

ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 26, 1933 I UNITED" STATES; PATENT OFFICE I I I I V 1 ,9.2s,z95 Q a FIRE EXTINGUISHER Albert C. Lusher, Waterbury, Conn., assigno r to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conn, a corporation ol. Connecticut Application November 19, 1932 7 Serial No. 643,361

6 Claims. (01. 299-495) This invention relates to fire extinguishers, and more particularly to a pressureoperatedliquid fire extinguisher where the contents are adapted to be automatically discharged when the valve is opened.

One-object of this invention is to provide a fire extinguisher of the above nature in which the valve has a loose connection with the operating handle and where the handle is prevented from' being turned by aseal, whereby the contents are required, by a sudden hammer blow twisting ac-- tion manually imparted to said valve handle.

A further object is to provide a device of the above nature which will be simple and durable in construction, inexpensive to fabricate and assem- --ble, easy to manipulate, ornamental in appearance, and very efiicient in use.

With these and other objects in view, there has been illustrated on the accompanying drawing, one form in which the invention may be conveniently embodied in practice.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 shows a side view, partly in section, of a fire extinguisher embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional view of the up per portion of the same.

Fig. 3 is a bottom sectional view of the valve wheel and mounting therefor, taken on the line 3--3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows.

In the previous use of the pressure type of fire extinguisher it has been customary to rigidly attach the valve handle or wheel to the stem of the valve, so that even the slightest rotation of said wheel, such as might be caused by shocks received in transportation or handling, would be suflicient to unseat the valve and permit leakage of the contents. Furthermore, the rigid attachment of the handle to the stem of the valve has a tendency to render diflicult the operation of unseating the valve in case the latter is stuck after some time of disuse.

The present invention overcomes the above and other disadvantages by the provision of backlash between the valve wheel and the stem of the valve, and by the use of a seal for initially locking said wheel in such a manner that the backlash cannot possibly be taken up sufiiciently to turn the valve stem and cause leakage unless the seal is broken. Referring now to the drawing in which like reference numerals denote corresponding parts 1 pressure.

throughout the several views, the numeral 10 indicates the bodyof a fire'extinguisher of thetype set forth, having therein a hollow space 11 adapted to containa fire extinguishing liquid under A valve 12 having a laterally project-' ing discharge nozzle 13 is adapted to be opened and closed by the manual rotation of a stem 14, and when closed, serves to retain the fluid within the space 11. Loosely mounted upon the upper end ofthe stem'14 is a valve wheel .or handle. 15 which is retained upon the top .of said stem 14 by a screw 16 and a washer 1'7. 3 A

In order to provide a loose connection or backlash between the valve handle 15 and the stem 14, the hub of the valve-wheel 15 is provided with a segmental pocket 18, subtending an angle of approximately 60 degrees. Projecting from the side of the valve stem 14 into the pocket 18 is a rigid radial pin 19 which is adapted to impart rotary motion to the stem when engaged by either end of the pocket18. The handle 15 is adapted to be retained with the pin 19 at the center of the pocket 18 by means of a flexible sealing wire 20 passing through a circular opening 21 in the valve-wheel, around the nozzle 13, and having its ends locked together by a breakable seal 22 of lead or the like.

Operation When it isdesired to make use .of the fire extinguisher, the valve-wheel 15 will be forceably rotated in the proper direction to open the valve, it being understood that before the valve can be opened, the wire 20 must be cut or broken by the force given to said wheel so that the backlash can be taken up. The pin 19 will be thus brought into contact with one end of the pocket 18, causing the force to be transmitted to the valve-stem 14 in such a direction as to open the valve. In case the valve has become stuck upon its seat, the lost motion between the valve-wheel 15 and the stem 14 will permit the wheel to be rotated rapidly so as to develop suflicient momentum to effect a hammer-blow upon the pin 19, which has been found to be a very efiective method of unseating the valve. It will be understood, however, that no matter how much the wheel 15 is jarred or struck inhandling, the lost motion between the wheel and valve stem will absolutely prevent the latter from accidentally being rotated until the seal is broken.

While there has been disclosed in this specification one form in which the invention may be embodied, it is to be understood that this form is for the purpose of illustration only, and that the III invention is not to be limited to the specific disclosures, but may be embodied in various other forms without departing from its spirit. In short, the invention includes all the modifications and embodiments coming within the scope of the following claims. Y Having .thus fully described the invention, what is claimed as new, and for which it is desired to secure Letters Patent, is:

stem, together with a flexible wire passed through an aperture in said wheel and about said nozzle, and a metal seal for detachably looking the ends of said wire together.

4. In a fire extinguisher containing a liquid under pressure, a discharge nozzle, a valve for closing said nozzle, a valve stem, a handle wheel for manually rotating said stem to open said valve, said wheel being loosely connected to said stem,

1. In a fire extinguisher, a valve stem having and means for sealing the valve handle between a lateral pin, an operating wheel loosely mounted on said stem and having a hub provided with a segmental interior pocket for housing said pin, sealing means to lock said wheel to hold said pin normally at the center of said pocket, 'whereby said valve will be prevented from being opened until said seal is broken. a

2. In a fire extinguisher, a valve stem having a lateral projection, an operating wheel loosely mounted on said stem and having a hub provided with a segmental interior pocket for housing said projection, sealing means to lock said wheel to hold said projection normally at the center of said pocket, whereby said valve will be prevented from being opened until said seal is broken.

3. In a fire extinguisher, a horizontal nozzle, a. valve for closing said nozzle having a vertical stem, an apertured handle wheel for rotating said stem, said wheel having a hub provided with a segmental'pocket, a pin secured to said stem having a projecting part lying wholly within said pocket and adapted to provide operative engagement with backlash between said wheel and said the extreme limits of its motion, whereby said valve will be positively held closed until the seal- 7 ing means is broken.

5. In a fire extinguisher, a valve stem having a lateral pin, an operating wheel loosely mounted on said stem and having a hub provided with a segmental interior pocket, sealing means to lock said wheel to hold said pin normally at the center of said pocket, whereby said valve will be prevented from being opened until said seal is broken, and means'on the end of said stem for loosely holding said wheel in position.

6. In a fire extinguisher, a valve stem having a lateral pin, an operating wheel loosely mounted on said stem and having a hub provided with a segmental interior pocket, sealing means to lock said wheel to hold said pin normally at the center of said pocket, whereby said valve will be prevented from being opened until said seal is broken, and a washer on the end of said stem for overlying the hub of said wheel to loosely retain it in position. 7

, ALBERT C. LUSHER. 

